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Indian Working Women Ready For A New Look
New Delhi, May 18: India`s working women are all set for an outfit conversion. Though the salwar kameez remains their most-preferred workwear, a strong urge for a shift to western attire has placed them on the brink of change, a study has shown.
New Delhi, May 18: India's working women are all set for an outfit conversion. Though the salwar kameez remains their most-preferred workwear, a strong urge for a shift to western attire has placed them on the brink of change, a study has shown.
Most respondents said they would put on westernwear at office, but various reasons hold them back from giving up their Indian dresses, leading fashion trade magazine 'Images' said in a study brought out in its May issue.
Ethnic salwar kameez, the study claimed, accounted for more than one-third of the total office attire. Altogether, the salwar kameez, the sari and the Indo-Western kurta constituted little less than half of the workwear in practice in India, the study involving 891 participants said.
''About 17.5 per cent of working women are therefore on the verge of conversion to westernwear, but may have temporarily held back for various reasons,'' it claimed. The second most widely used workwear combination, the study said, was formal shirts with trousers (28 per cent) followed by Indo-Western kurta (10 per cent), formal shirts with jeans (6.9 per cent), t-shirts with jeans (6.2 per cent) and finally the traditional sari (five per cent).
And dignified looks are the top consideration for the Indian woman while selecting officewear at a retail counter.
Comfort is secondary followed by exclusivity, feminine touch and sexy looks in that order, the study showed.
But the typical Indian love for customs and traditions does not seem to be slipping into oblivion as preference for ethnic wear appeared exceptionally strong -- around 90 per cent -- during festivals and family occasions.
However, the Indian working woman would be more comfortable in Western outfits when she is at home, shops, and parties or while travelling.
Offsetting what may be called brandname myths, she places maximum emphasis on fittings, even giving a secondary priority to designing and styling followed by fabric and colour.
A large part of India's womenwear market -- which constitutes 37 per cent of the country's domestic clothing industry worth Rs 49,300 crore -- remains unbranded even today, the study said.
Every year, sales of saris total Rs 8,232 crore, ethnicwear Rs 4,423 crore, and Westernwear accounts for Rs 738 crore.
Besides, jeans, lingerie and intimate apparel make a sizeable chunk, the study claimed.
Images' research centred around urban working women with 44 per cent respondents from Delhi and the national capital region, 23 per cent from Mumbai, 12.7 per cent from Bangalore and 17.8 per cent from Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad together.
Bureau Report
Most respondents said they would put on westernwear at office, but various reasons hold them back from giving up their Indian dresses, leading fashion trade magazine 'Images' said in a study brought out in its May issue.
Ethnic salwar kameez, the study claimed, accounted for more than one-third of the total office attire. Altogether, the salwar kameez, the sari and the Indo-Western kurta constituted little less than half of the workwear in practice in India, the study involving 891 participants said.
''About 17.5 per cent of working women are therefore on the verge of conversion to westernwear, but may have temporarily held back for various reasons,'' it claimed. The second most widely used workwear combination, the study said, was formal shirts with trousers (28 per cent) followed by Indo-Western kurta (10 per cent), formal shirts with jeans (6.9 per cent), t-shirts with jeans (6.2 per cent) and finally the traditional sari (five per cent).
And dignified looks are the top consideration for the Indian woman while selecting officewear at a retail counter.
Comfort is secondary followed by exclusivity, feminine touch and sexy looks in that order, the study showed.
But the typical Indian love for customs and traditions does not seem to be slipping into oblivion as preference for ethnic wear appeared exceptionally strong -- around 90 per cent -- during festivals and family occasions.
However, the Indian working woman would be more comfortable in Western outfits when she is at home, shops, and parties or while travelling.
Offsetting what may be called brandname myths, she places maximum emphasis on fittings, even giving a secondary priority to designing and styling followed by fabric and colour.
A large part of India's womenwear market -- which constitutes 37 per cent of the country's domestic clothing industry worth Rs 49,300 crore -- remains unbranded even today, the study said.
Every year, sales of saris total Rs 8,232 crore, ethnicwear Rs 4,423 crore, and Westernwear accounts for Rs 738 crore.
Besides, jeans, lingerie and intimate apparel make a sizeable chunk, the study claimed.
Images' research centred around urban working women with 44 per cent respondents from Delhi and the national capital region, 23 per cent from Mumbai, 12.7 per cent from Bangalore and 17.8 per cent from Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad together.
Bureau Report